Ranma of Splynn
by Mid-Boss2997
Summary: Ranma, due to a freak accident during a second NekoKen training, is sent to Atlantis on RIFTS Earth. Right into the throne room of Lord Splynncryth.Multicrossover with several other manga and anime.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, Palladium Books' Rifts or Sailor Moon.

"Dialogue"

((Thoughts))

"_Telepathy"_

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Silver Millennium…

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He paced through the hallway of the palace with a frown marring his face. His long black hair reached between his shoulder blades and he wore a white shirt with matching pants and shoes. The servants and minor court officials made way for him as soon as they saw his angry expression, almost jumping to the side when he passed them. He hoped that his plan would work, otherwise this whole system would be history. What he saw in the time gates couldn't be allowed to happen.

Arriving at his destination, he swung open the huge double doors and entered the extravagant ballroom. Currently it was filled with several dozen nobles, who were busy with dancing, eating, talking and various other activities. His mother sat on her throne on the other end of the room, his sister had her place right next to their parent and the senshi were lining the wall to their right and left. All except Princess Saturn who stayed normally in her castle on Saturn.

He didn't care about any of that, "Mother!"

The music, talking and dancing stopped almost immediately. The attention of everyone was directed at him, the people on the dance floor hurriedly parted and made way for him. He quickly walked up to the throne, stopping just a few meters in front of it. He looked Serenity right into the eyes. The intensity of his look was quite easily comparable to the one of his father.

The queen was surprised and happy at the same time, "Son?! You are back from your journey!"

"Yes, I am. And I can't believe what I saw out there!" he said with disgust

She was shocked at the hatred in his voice, "What do you mean?"

"I mean this whole kingdom, the whole Silver Millennium!"

A collective gasp sounded throughout the room and the surprised look on Serenity's face vanished and was replaced by a hardened expression that made mother and son frighteningly look the same.

"Explain yourself."

"When was actually the last time you checked on the people living in this system? And I don't mean the citizens of the capitals!" he didn't let her come to word though, "Not once! At least not in the last five hundred years. Most people live in poverty; they can't even feed their own children!"

"That is not…"

"It is true, mother! These people live in run-down huts that make a doghouse look like this palace! And what are you all doing?! Dance and glutton yourselves on these idiotic parties!" then he turned to the assembled senshi, "And what about you? You are the damn princesses of your planets, go home and look after your subjects!"

"Elyon, you are going too far." warned the queen, "They are here to protect your sister."

"Then you should have chosen other people as her bodyguards! The senshi exist to guard their planets and not the moon princess! Their duty to protect their worlds and people precedes the one about guarding my sister."

"Son, this is not the place…"

"It is the right place! This should be the audience chamber of the palace and not a damn ballroom of all things!" Elyon replied fiercely, "Even the so called servants… or better yet slaves… in this kingdom are treated and live better than most of the free men! Do you even understand this? The Splugorth slaves lead better lives than our own people!"

Serenity's hands were clenched to fists and her whole body was shaking with anger, there were even silver arcs of energy running down her arms. The senshi watched this with worried expressions on their faces, they were probably about to witness their queen kill her first-born child.

"And you know what? The people still love you."

She calmed down a little after hearing that. He gritted his teeth at what he said next.

"God knows, I would have already staged a riot if I had to live like them."

A torrent of silver energy washed over him, hurling the prince right into the double doors on the other end of the room, which were a little over twenty meters away. Elyon fell to the floor but stood right back up, his clothes and his skin were still smoking.

He grinned, "What is it? Can't accept the truth?"

Another energy blast crushed into this body, but this time he stood his ground. He didn't move an inch.

"Please stop it, mother!" begged the younger Serenity

"Was that everything you got, mother?" he said weakly, everyone knew at first glance that he was bluffing, "Really fitting, weak power for a weak queen. No wonder you need the senshi to protect…"

Another wave of energy and he still didn't budge. Queen Serenity shined like a miniature sun at the moment, her anger completely clouding her judgment.

He coughed up blood, "Even Splynncryth treats his own subjects better than you do."

The next energy blast caused him to fall to his knees. For a short moment, the crescent moon on his forehead flickered and was replaced by another symbol, no one could actually see what it was though.

"Come on, kill me! Otherwise I won't stop and you will see that I'm not an opponent to be trifled with!"

The following attack almost robbed him of his consciousness.

"Senshi, listen to me! Go guard your planets as it is your true duty! Help your people, since the moon won't help them!"

The last blast was the most powerful one yet, leaving Elyon inside a crater with most of his clothes and skin burned away. The prince and heir to the throne was dead. The light around Serenity died down immediately as she realized what she just did. She fell to her knees, her eyes empty and tears of grief flowing down her cheeks.

She didn't even notice the movement to her side. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto walked away from their posts and went to the dead body of their prince. Showing their last respects, they kneeled down before him, as they usually would before their queen. They stood back up and were about to leave.

"Where are you going?!" shouted Venus, the leader of the senshi

"Guard our planets." replied Pluto coldly, a shiver ran down the spines of everyone at the emotionless voice

Just then, the body of Elyon started glowing, turning into pure energy that began to rise into the air. The energy sphere split up into four parts, three went to the Outer Senshi, while the fourth one shot through the roof of the palace and into space.

The three senshi reached out for the respective lights but as soon as they touched them, the light transformed into different items. For Uranus the Space Sword, for Neptune the Deep Sea Mirror, for Pluto the Garnet Orb and far away on Saturn, the Silence Glaive for the senshi of death.

"_Thank you for listening to me…"_ whispered a ghostly voice that only they could hear

And for only one of them, _"I'm sorry, my love…"_

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Present…

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"What do you mean with 'you lost Ranma'?!" shouted Nodoka

"Well, I wanted to correct the mistakes I made when I taught him the neko-ken." mumbled Genma subdued

"And how exactly did you do that?" questioned Cologne

"This time I used more expensive fish to wrap him up!" replied the man, "This mushroom incident was the best thing that could ever happen to him. It's not my fault that he suddenly disappeared in a flash of light!"

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Somewhere else in Nerima…

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Ryoga Hibiki was afraid, he awoke this morning in an unfamiliar park and his parents were nowhere in sight. He only had a small bundle with him, the backpack that had been lying next to him back there too heavy for him to carry. The bandanna-clad child was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice the portal opening on the pavement in front of him.

As Ryoga fell through though there was the indefinable urge to blame this on someone else rising up inside him, he just for the life of him couldn't remember who though.

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Rifts Earth, Splynn…

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Splynncryth wasn't quite sure what to think at the moment. All of a sudden, a small rift opened up in front of his slime pool and a human boy along with several dozen dead cats dropped out of it. Even weirder was that the child acted like a cat as well and after the dimensional portal closed again, he sat down on the floor and cleaned his 'paws' from the blood of the felines.

A few moments later the huge double door to the room burst open and about twenty Powerlords ran inside and towards the human, all of them were armed with particle beam rifles and were ready to fire them to protect their master. The alien intelligence had other plans though; this could prove to be an amusing past time.

"_Stop it, don't kill him."_ ordered Splynncryth as he pulled himself out of the slime to see better

"But Lord Splynncryth! It could be an assassin!"

The Splugorth's eye twitched slightly at that, _"That is a human child. He doesn't even have enough power to scratch me, much less kill me. Now go back to your posts, leave me alone."_

"Very well, master." replied the leader of the guards and gave his men the new orders

Once they were all gone, Splynncryth turned his attention back to the boy, who has watched the whole exchange curiously, _"Who are you, human?"_

"Meow?" replied the boy, wondering why there was a voice inside his head.

The ruler of Atlantis sighed, the human didn't understand him. Remembering a past conversation with the god Thoth, he held one of his maw-less tentacles out to the boy in a calming motion. The cat-like child looked at the appendage in wonder and tried to bat it slightly with one of his hands. Seeing that it moved out of the way, he tried again and again.

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Ten minutes later…

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Ranma was chasing the tentacle throughout the whole room, all the while bouncing from wall to wall like a crazed ping-pong ball. Splynncryth was amazed at the speed at which the human could move though; normally it took a few spells or tattoos to increase the movements of a mortal like that. A few of his other tentacles were busy eating the dead cats that were strewn about near his pool; it wouldn't do to let them rot there.

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A short time after that…

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The boy was lying near to the slime pool, sleeping next to his new _playmate_. The Splugorth on the other hand was currently making plans for the future, he could need such a human in his service. He could win the trust of quite a few cities on Earth, if they saw that he had a human general or bodyguard. And trust was always a good starting point for business relationships.

Splynncryth was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice that Ranma awoke from his sleep. He shakily stood up and looked around, a confused look on his face. That was when he noticed the giant squid like being right next to him. Not really thinking clearly, the boy did the first thing that came to his mind.

"AHHHH!!!"

He yelled in shock and fell to the floor, his eyes wide with fear. This caught the attention of Splynncryth, who turned slightly around to look at Ranma, _"Well, it seems that you are finally awake again."_

Ranma blinked, surprised at hearing a voice in his head, "Who said that?"

"_I did."_ replied the alien intelligence and raised one of his tentacles

"You? Who... what are you?"

"_I am Splynncryth of the Splugorth race and the Lord of Atlantis."_

"Splynn... cryth?" mouthed Ranma slowly, "Lord...? You are some kinda king then?"

"_...You could say that."_

"Wow." said Ranma with awe, this was the first time he ever met royalty. They looked more intimidating than he thought. "Umm... where am I... and where's my dad?"

"_You are in my palace in Atlantis. I don't know where your father is, you arrived here along with a few dead cats."_

((Dad is not here?)) thought Ranma surprised, ((Maybe... what did Ucchan call it... ah, yes! Vacation! Maybe I can take a small vacation!)) (1)

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Another dimension…

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"Do you really think that this was the right decision?" asked a voice with a weird stereo-like quality

"Of course I do. They are the best suited for this task."

"And not because one of them is your son?"

"Stop it, I think we should trust him." said another, emotionless sounding voice

"Of course…I'm sorry, my old friend."

"Don't worry about it."

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Thirteen years later…

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Ranma stood over the fallen forms of ten Powerlords and cracked his knuckles, a smirk appeared on his face, "Come on, was that everything?"

The aliens just groaned as they crawled away from him.

The pigtailed boy sighed, "Seems that it was... pathetic. Why did Lord Splynncryth even hire you?"

Not really caring about his defeated opponents, Ranma went to the other end of the training hall which lay deep under the palace. He walked into the teleportation circle, which has been set up in a large alcove in one of the walls. Flexing his internal energies a little, he activated the circle and it transported him to one of the rooms on the first floor.

The pigtailed boy wasn't quite sure what he should do, about a year ago the memories of his old life in Nerima returned. It was quite disconcerting to know that he was actually thirty years old and not nineteen. The other problem was that he has been a wimp in his former life, one hell of a martial artist but a real wimp. Ranma had to do everything in his power to subdue his old personality, but he wasn't quite sure how successful he had been.

The young man exited the chamber and went to the throne room, which was guarded by two of his fellow but less human Highlords that as usual allowed him to pass. His surrogate father was holding an audience with the demon lord Modeus, who was currently in his natural form. A giant mass of over a hundred tentacles and one huge eye, even a Splugorth seemed to be a top model compared to that ugly thing.

Both alien intelligences noticed his entry and turned their attention shortly towards him. After a second though, they dismissed his presence and went back to their conversation.

"_You are quite lenient with your slaves, Lord Splynncryth."_ muttered Modeus disdainfully, _"I would never allow mine to barge in like this."_

"_You misunderstand the situation, my dear Modeus."_ replied the Splugorth, _"This is my general, Ranma Saotome. He is not a slave."_

"_A human general?"_ the demon would have raised an eyebrow if he had one, _"That is unusual…"_

"_It doesn't matter now. Why did you want an audience with me?"_

"_Fifty of my slaves were killed by one of your Powerlord patrols at the market! I want refunds!"_

"_Really? What kind of slaves?"_

"_Fifty young males, human. Good for work and for their meat."_

Splynncryth sighed, _"Very well, I offer you 500.000 credits. That should be more than enough."_

The demon quivered slightly, _"I want gold, credits are worth nothing where I usually do my business!"_

"_Okay, then 50.000 gold coins."_

"_I can accept that."_ said Modeus and shook tentacles with Splynncryth

"_I will advise my servants to give the money to your local agents."_

"_Very well, Lord Splynncryth. I have to go back to Hades now."_

This said, the ruler of the hell dimension disappeared in a flash of light. Now the Lord of Atlantis turned his full attention to Ranma, who walked closer to the alien intelligence.

"My Lord." greeted Ranma with a respectful bow

"_What do you want, Ranma? Did you finish your training already?"_

"Of course, my Lord. Those Powerlords were weak; can't we hire a few greater demons?"

"_I will think about it."_ replied Splynncryth, _"But that's not the only reason you came here though, is it?"_

"No, it's not. I want to visit my home dimension."

"_Whatever for?"_

He shrugged, "Maybe it's worth allying ourselves with it, or conquering it."

"_You would try to conquer your own world?"_

"Yeah." he replied simply

The Splugorth laughed, _"Very well, you can go whenever you want!"_

"Thank you, my Lord." said Ranma gratefully

The young man turned around to leave again but a tentacle on his shoulder stopped him, _"One last question… do you have any other reasons to return home?"_

Ranma was silent for a few moments but then answered, "I would like to meet my mother again… and maybe torture my father if I get my hands on him."

The tentacle let him go, _"Good, now go."_

Once he left and closed the doors to the throne room behind him, Ranma let out a relieved sigh. He hadn't been sure if Splynncryth would allow him to go. To his surprise, someone waited for him in the hallway. A female Raksasha demon, who was currently in her human form and one of his best friends. They met each other ten years ago, she and a few other cat-like creatures had been hired by Lord Splynncryth to try and cure him from his fear of cats.

It worked quite well, most normal cats didn't affect him anymore and the demonic ones sent only a shiver down his spine, the neko-ken technique was pretty much lost to him now though. About three years ago, their relationship changed slightly as well. They became lovers for a short while, but that only lasted a few months and they were back to friend status now.

"Hey, Katarina! How are you?"

"I'm fine; did you tell Lord Splynncryth about your plans?"

"Yeah, he gave me his consent." said Ranma happily

"Good for you. When are you going to leave?" asked the demonic female

"Today, I just have to pack up some of my stuff." replied the young fighter, "What are you doing here anyway? I didn't tell anyone that I would be here today."

"Not everything in the Megaverse revolves around you, Lord Splynncryth summoned me here."

He smiled sheepishly, "Oh, sorry. You shouldn't let him wait. I'll be going now."

Before he could leave though, he was on the receiving end of a hug and a kiss. His mind blanked for a second but then it was already over and Katarina rushed into the throne room. He just stood there for a few more moments but then shook his head and left.

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Some hours later…

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It was a warm, summer night in Nerima, the sky was free of any clouds, and a multitude of stars could be seen. A few cars were still driving on the streets; most of them were on their way home to join their families.

A little more than eighteen years have passed since Ranma Saotome has disappeared and many have searched for the pig-tailed martial artist but none of them found him. It seemed that he vanished from the face of Earth completely, and in a sense, this was true.

The residents of the town gave up on finding him and continued with their lives. About a year after he disappeared, Ryu Kumon came back to Nerima and stayed for a while at the Tendo dojo. Unfortunately, he visited a certain cursed valley in China on his training trip and now turned into a parrot when splashed with cold water.

During his stay at the dojo, he and Akane fell in love with each other and married one and a half years later. They now taught together in the dojo and Akane was pregnant with her second child. Kasumi married doctor Tofu and they both live now in Tofu's house/office. Kasumi also continued with her education and entered college along with Nabiki; she now works with her husband in his clinic.

Ukyo opened several restaurants in the other districts of Tokyo and earned quite a lot of money. Konatsu, who dressed like a man now after a wild night of sex with Ukyo, proposed to his former boss and they were now the proud parents of two daughters.

To the surprise of all, Shampoo stayed in Japan opposed to her great-grandmother Cologne and Mousse, who returned to their village to resolve an urgent matter. The Amazon Elder gave the Nekohanten to Shampoo.

Someone, who doesn't want to be named, finally committed the whole Kuno family to the psychiatry. He now lives alone in the Kuno estate and trains day in and day out his _ninja skills_.

Hinako Ninomiya got the job as the new principal of Furinkan and ruled the school with an iron fist. It seems that this was what the school needed all the time; people consider it as one of the best educational faculties in Japan.

Nodoka and Genma divorced a few months after Ranma disappeared. Surprisingly, Ranma's father searched for his son for at least another three years before he gave up. In this time, Nodoka also received the news that she was pregnant again. Now she has an eighteen-year-old daughter named Makoto.

Anyway, back to the main character, or better yet to the place where he would reappear again. All of a sudden, a translucent blue light illuminated the Saotome home as the energies of the ley lines supercharged in the area. Unexpectedly, a strong wind picked up and blew some leaves that laid on the ground away, as if on cue reality was thorn apart and a rift appeared just a few meters from the front door away.

Out of the dimensional portal walked a young man dressed in a red T-shirt, a blue jeans jacket and black leather pants, his feet were clad in black combat boots. He was about six feet tall and had long black hair that has been bound in a pigtail.

Once the gateway closed behind him, he let out a sigh, "Finally back home..."

Ranma took a good look around himself. The rebuilt Saotome residence was even more impressive than the old one; it even had a dojo now. While it wasn't as big as the one of the Tendos it was still respectable though. His gaze went back to the house and he noted with relieve that there was still light burning inside.

The young man shook his head clear of these thoughts and slowly raised his hand to knock at the door. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal his mother standing there with a shocked expression on her face. Time did not do much to change her beauty but she did have a strand of silver hair, as usual, she was wearing a kimono.

"R-Ranma?" the woman whispered disbelievingly

Ranma smiled and nodded, then he replied, "Uhm... Hello, mom!"

His eyes widened when she suddenly darted forward and gave him a hug that would make an Amazon Glomp or his father's Cradle of Hell technique seem like light taps on the shoulder. The pigtailed boy saw the world darken before his eyes as his mother's embrace not only pressed out all the air he had in his lungs but also squeezed some of his more important blood vessels shut.

"Need... ... ai..." too late, having the blood flow in your body disrupted is not good for someone's health, his body knew that and did the most likely thing in the situation. It shut down temporarily.

"My son is back!" cried Nodoka as she hugged her child for dear life. She almost gave up on him ever returning but now he was there and she wouldn't let him go again. That was the moment she felt him go limp in her arms and she staggered a little because she supported his whole weight now.

"Oh no! I killed my son!!" she exclaimed in horror

"Mom, who is that?" came her daughter's voice as she walked to the front door

"Come here quick, it's Ranma!"

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To be continued…

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(1) The mushrooms actually reset their memories back to when they were six years old.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, Palladium Books' Rifts or Sailor Moon.

"Dialogue"

((Thoughts))

"_Telepathy"_

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Ranma awoke to the talking of two persons, one of the voices he recognized as the one of his mother. He kept pretending to be unconscious to listen to the conversation.

"He looks too young..." stated Nodoka concerned, "It has been eighteen years; he doesn't look much older than you do..."

"Well… Uhm… you did tell me that he was younger due to those strange magic mushrooms when he disappeared." said Makoto

((Eighteen years?! But... damn it, time doesn't run same in every dimension!)) he thought angrily, ((I didn't even think about that possibility…))

"I wonder how the rest of Nerima will react to his arrival. So much has changed in the last years..." continued Nodoka

Her daughter responded with a smile, "You are worrying too much, mom. What I'm interested in is his reaction towards me."

((She called her mom? Knowing the old man, it's probably another fiancée...))

The woman nodded, "You are right, it will be a shock when he hears that he has a younger sister now."

((Oh... only a sist...!!!)) forgetting that he pretended to be asleep, Ranma abruptly sat up and looked at Makoto and Nodoka, who almost got a heart attack at the man's sudden movement, "You're my sister?!"

It took a few seconds for the two to calm down and once they did they gave him a look only women could ever truly master, it was the equivalent of saying '_don't do that ever again or else...'_. That glare disturbed Ranma only slightly; he has been raised by Splynncryth, which made him all but immune to intimidating stares.

His mother was the first to talk, "Yes, this is your sister Makoto, and now could you please tell us... WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN FOR THE PAST EIGHTEEN YEARS!?!?"

Ranma blinked once and jumped up in surprise, he wondered when his mother learned the Demon Head technique, "Neat trick, mom – It's better than the one of Mr. Tendo."

Makoto quickly put a hand on her mother's shoulder, "Mom, there's no need to shout. Think about the neighbors."

The illusion faded away and revealed a slightly subdued looking Nodoka, "Sorry, dear."

His mother smiled slightly and shook her head, then she turned her attention back to Ranma, "Son, please tell us what happened to you, we were worried about you."

The pig-tailed man felt a pang of guilt when he saw the sad expression on his mother's face. He plopped back down onto the couch he has been lying on and rubbed his forehead in thought, "I don't really want to talk about it. The most that I can tell you is that I have been in a different dimension, another kind of Earth. I didn't have any of my memories until I grew up to the age where I first ate the magic mushroom."

Nodoka shook her head, "You don't have to tell us if it's too painful."

Makoto agreed with her mother, "It's just important that you are back."

"Are you really my sister?" asked Ranma, looking at the brown-haired girl curiously

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm eighteen years old now."

((Heh... I have a sister... who would have thought that?)) Then he continued aloud, "Uhm… Where is Oyaji? I have a small score to settle with him."

Nodoka's head sank down at that and Makoto decided to answer, "They divorced a few months after you disappeared… I haven't seen him very often."

"Oh… sorry, I didn't…" muttered Ranma, not really knowing what to say

"I took on my maiden name Kino again. I don't know where Genma is at the moment, but he's not in Nerima. That much I'm sure of."

Trying to change the topic, Ranma asked, "So... what else happened in the time I wasn't here? How is everyone?"

The two females got a worried look and after some seconds, Nodoka decided to answer, "Well... Kasumi married Tofu and she is a doctor now too; Nabiki owns a large business and belongs to the richest people in Japan. Happosai grabbed Soun one day and went off to a training journey, we haven't seen them in years."

Makoto continued, "Aunt Ukyo has now several restaurants and is married to uncle Konatsu, they have two daughters. The Nekohanten belongs to aunt Shampoo now and is doing quite well."

"Uhm... what about Akane, did something happen to her?" asked Ranma a little concerned

"Son... this may be very hard to accept now but... ... Akane and Ryu Kumon are married, they are teaching at the Tendo dojo together now." explained Nodoka

Ranma let out a relieved sigh, "You had me worried there for a moment. I already thought she had some kind of accident or something… even though I would have expected her to marry Ryoga."

Both of them blinked simultaneously, "Y-you aren't angry about this?"

It was Ranma's turn to blink now, "Why should I be? I didn't expect anyone to wait for me; I had my own life and the people here as well."

"You mean you are married?" asked Nodoka now curious, ((Grandchildren!))

"...No, not really." replied the pig-tailed man and stood up, "Is my room still available? I'm tired..."

"Of course, it's in the same place as it was in the old house. You're name is written on the door."

"I'm going upstairs now then... I'll see you tomorrow."

Ranma walked out of the living room and left Nodoka and Makoto alone. They spent a long time thinking about what he said.

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The same evening at the Kuno mansion...

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An ancient seal that rested in the catacombs under the estate was in the process of breaking. Due to the small ley line fluctuations just a few minutes ago, it took enough damage for the entity imprisoned behind it to become active.

The demon slept down there for several centuries now, since the time when the founder of the Kuno clan captured it. For all this time it had been mostly dormant, only able to attack the sanity of its hated enemy's descendants. Now that they weren't there anymore, no one guarded the seal and finally it could break free.

The ground started to shake and slowly but surely the stone seal broke away to reveal a black mass of energy and miasma. The being left its supposed grave and shouted mentally for the only occupant of the house, mimicking the voice of the last owner,

"_Sasuke! Come to me my loyal servant, the Blue Thunder awaits you!"_

The before mentioned ninja was in the process of training his stealth techniques when he heard the call,

"M-master Kuno, is that you?!"

"_Of course, Sasuke. I'm waiting for you in the basement, come to me!"_

Years of being the local sla... servant kicked in and he hurriedly made his way to the cellar. Once down there, he looked around for his master but couldn't find anything. He already thought that he imagined everything but then the voice talked again, this time it sounded a little more sinister,

"_Don't __worry my prey. I'll be there soon, just stay where you are now."_

"Yes master..." answered Sasuke, his own will weakening more and more

Suddenly an inky shadow flowed out between the stone blocks that formed the floor. It slowly crept towards the rat-faced ninja but he could do nothing but stare at the darkness. A few moments later, the hulking mass stood in front of ninja and then in a moment of mental freedom, Sasuke realized something,

"You are not Master Tatewaki."

No one heard his screams that night.

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The next morning...

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Makoto and Nodoka awoke to the sound a gigantic explosion that rocked their house. They quickly jumped out of their bed and put on their usual clothing, the two ran out of their bedrooms and down the stairs to see Ranma standing in the living room. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and black jeans; his feet were clad in the same boots as yesterday night. Surprisingly he wore a silver ring on each of his fingers, all with different gem stones worked into them. The pig-tailed man was looking at something on the TV with a frown on his face.

Nodoka was the first to talk, "What was that, son?"

Ranma pointed towards the screen, "Just see for yourself."

They did that and saw an emergency-news-broadcast; the reporter was standing in the middle of a street and nervously looked around.

"Here is Ryota Yamaguchi directly from the streets of Nerima where a gigantic monster appeared just half an hour ago! It already destroyed several buildings and the streets are littered with corpses... ... Oh no! It's coming towards us! Run, run!!!! AARGHHH!!!!!!"

Suddenly there was only static shown on the screen as the news team was destroyed.

"I'm going to check this out." stated Ranma and made his way to the backyard, his family quickly ran after him as their brain registered what he said.

"Wait! That's too dangerous!" shouted Nodoka

"Listen to her!" added Makoto as both of them entered their garden, "The Sailor Senshi will take care of that monster!"

Ranma looked at them and let out a sigh, "Look, it's not the first demon I fought against and the sooner I go, the sooner it will be over..."

"But..." Nodoka wanted to say something but then Makoto beat her to it.

The brown-haired girl shook her head, "Mom, I don't think that we can stop him from the stories everyone told me about him. I don't like it either but I have seen that look before on uncle Ryu's face, no one can talk him out of this."

"B-but... he just..."

"Mom... you don't have to worry about me. I've faced worse threats in my life and some of them even when I was still here in Nerima." said Ranma sincerely

"Okay... but please be careful..."

"Of course I'm going to be careful." replied the pig-tailed man and jumped onto the outer wall of the house to get a better look of his surroundings.

"Ranma, do you even know where you have to go?" asked Makoto suddenly

Ranma sweatdropped and pointed straight ahead of him, "Errr... I think the smoke rising to the sky is a good indication where that demon is." With a glowing finger he drew a symbol in the air and whispered, "Fly as the Eagle."

Nodoka's and Makoto's eyes widened when they saw him rise into the air and fly away, moving at least at 80 miles per hour.

------------------

Pretty near to the smoking remains of the Kuno estate...

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A huge demon was stomping through the streets of Nerima, it was over seven meters tall and its whole body was covered by spiky, dark blue scales. The youkai's eyes were glowing yellow and salvia mixed with blood was running out of its fang-filled jaws. A crown of horns topped of his head and it had vicious looking claws, instead of normal hands and feet.

The street itself, or what remained of it, was full of dead bodies and burning car wrecks. The monster was in the process of devouring what has once been a young child when it heard someone shout. It turned its head towards the annoying sound to see a black-haired man standing there, then it said in a low guttural voice,

"Wait till it is your turn, puny little mortal."

The man growled in anger, "I'll show you _wait_, you damn bastard!! KIJIN RAISHUU DAN!!!" (1)

A ki-reinforced vacuum blade shot forward from the man's hand and hit the demon directly in the chest. It roared in pain as the attack cut into its body and let the remains of the human it was holding drop to the ground. It then turned completely to the man that attacked it and swiped its right claw at him. The martial artist jumped over the attack and landed on the youkai's arm, he ran up to its shoulder and kicked it with the force of a bullet train in the back of its head. With another leap, the man landed back on the cracked asphalt in a ready stance.

"I will rip you apart, human!!!" snarled the fiend

"I want to see you try!"

The eyes of the monster suddenly glowed brighter than before and a torrent of black energy shot out of its mouth. The man barely avoided it by jumping to the side but then a huge, clawed fist hit him. The power of the blow sent him flying through the wall of house that was several meters away.

The monster stood straight again and howled in laughter, it was a horrible sound, "Foolish human, I hope you learned your lesson! No one stands a chance against me!!"

It was about to take another corpse to feed on, when unexpectedly a voice came from the remains of the wall, "Yes, I learned my lesson... next time I have to be more careful."

The man broke out of the collapsed wall and threw several vacuum blades at the demonic entity. It goes without saying that the demon was very angry that it was hurt by _air_ of all things.

It was through with playing and made a mad dash towards the male; once it reached him, the monster grabbed the human and smashed him into the ground repeatedly, the concrete being cratered deeper and deeper with each impact . On a nearby rooftop Ranma watched this exchange and shook his head,

"Seems that I have to help him..."

This said he jumped down from the building and landed a few meters behind the youkai.

Ryu Kumon's whole body was hurting extremely. The monster was stronger than anything he has ever faced before. He nearly passed out midway through the smashing. After a few more moments of this torture, the monster thought it was enough and threw Ryu over his shoulder.

He was dimly aware that he landed next to another man standing there on the street and his eyes widened slightly when he recognized some of the boy's features.

"Is that... you, Ranma?"

"Heh... hello, copy cat. You seem to have a slight problem." said Ranma with his usual arrogant smirk; he held his voice low though since he didn't want to alarm the youkai.

"D-don't call me copy cat... fem-boy." replied Ryu weakly

The pig-tailed man kneeled down and quickly checked Ryu's wounds; he had a few broken ribs, both his arms and legs were broken or at least cracked. Overall, it didn't look all that good for him but he had luck that Ranma was there. He put a hand on his former rival's chest and muttered, "Greater Healing."

A soft green light extended from Ranma's hand and encompassed Ryu's whole body. The male could feel comforting warmth seep into his skin that soothed his pain. A few moments later Ranma took his hand away and Ryu tried to sit up, which didn't work, he did feel better though, "What the hell...?"

"Careful... I couldn't heal all of your injuries; my healing spell isn't strong enough to restore you completely. Don't worry; I'll take care of the demon." explained Ranma and stood back up

Ryu nodded, "Okay... but when this is over you owe me an explanation."

"Yeah, yeah... I'll do that." he walked away from Akane's husband and towards the demon, which was just gnawing on the cadaver of a man

"Hey, you ugly motherfucker, stop filling that fat stomach of yours for a moment and turn around!!" shouted Ranma once he was standing about three meters away from the monster

Said demon did turn around and roared angrily at the disturbance, it hated it when its dinner was interrupted, "Another human opposing me?! Is this town full of wannabe heroes?"

Ranma didn't bother to answer and started chanting for a spell, "Agni and Atar send me your flames!"

Pointing his left hand at the demon, a basketball-sized fireball shot from his palm with incredible speed. The spell hit the monster's breastbone and burned the flesh there away, it howled in pain. Ranma wasn't disturbed by this in the slightest and threw a few more fireballs at the youkai. This time the monster knew what would come though and quickly leapt out of the way. It then shot a blast of dark energy at Ranma, like before with Ryu. The pig-tailed fighter barely avoided it by stepping to the side; the shot slightly grazing his shoulder.

That also seemed to be enough too; once the energy touched his skin, he could feel that something was wrong. He wasn't hurt but he noticed that some of his potential psychic energy was missing.

((Damnit... that's no youkai, it's a freakin' youma! I've never seen one this big!)) thought Ranma angrily, ((It already has completely regenerated the damage Ryu and I inflicted on it. Fireballs won't cut it here...))

He was about to summon up one of the weapons he stored in subspace when the youma started swiping at him with its claws in a mad frenzy. Ranma was pressed hard to evade all the strikes, the monster being faster than even Amaguriken speed.

((I hate youma!! The more they kill, the more powerful they get!)) went through Ranma's mind as he jumped away from a strike that ripped his shirt open, ((Damn, I just need one second to find the right weapon!))

The demon didn't give him this second though and continued relentlessly with its assault and Ranma couldn't believe his bad luck. Normally a youma would have been easy to kill but the pig-tailed man misjudged the race of his opponent and used the wrong approach, now he had the mess.

"Die hum...!" the monster's shout was disrupted by a ghostly ki blast that hit its face

Ranma quickly glanced behind him to see Ryu lying there with an arm pointed at the youma, he had a weak grin on his face. Ranma slowly mimicked the grin as he took the opportunity to pull a weapon out of subspace. It was a completely black broadsword, with a line of crimson runes in the middle of the blade. A greatest rune sword, specifically made for him, as he also hunted down the demon lord that was the _donor _of the needed soul.

((Isn't that right, Ravana?))

"_Very funny, Saotome… very funny…"_

------------------

To be continued…

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	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, Palladium Books' Rifts or Sailor Moon.

"Dialogue"

((Thoughts))

"_Telepathy"_

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Ranma could see the monster start shaking with fear as it felt the energies emanating from his rune weapon. Ranma pointed his sword at the monster and smirked, "This is going to be your end, you bastard. This weapon can stop any kind of regeneration."

The youma's eyes widened in shock.

"Ah... you seem to realize that I can actually kill you! Heh... even more fun for me!"

With a truly demented grin Ranma leaped at the monster. The youma tried to evade the blade but couldn't get out of the way in time; the pigtailed boy severed the left arm of the demon at the elbow. The supernatural being let out a scream of suffering as the wound started spraying blood. The limb fell to the ground and instantly started decomposing.

Ranma didn't stop with his assault though, using two of the spells inherit to the weapon he more than quadrupled his own speed.

"Kyouhunohakatto." whispered Ranma and simply vanished from sight (1)

He reappeared right behind the monster; wiping a little sweat from his brow as he put his rune sword back into subspace. The monster wanted to turn around and attack him but it didn't even get the chance, once it moved it started falling apart. Walking away from the remains that were busy turning to dust, Ranma went to his old rival.

"Hey Ryu, are you okay?" asked Ranma sarcastically

"Very funny, Saotome. You know exactly how I am; now I want to know why you returned after all those years."

"Err... could we discuss that somewhere else? Maybe back at your dojo? I'd rather not talk about it here on the streets, not to forget that the authorities should be coming here any moment now." as if on cue, sirens could be heard coming closer.

"Okay, okay... just help me up and we can go back to the dojo." replied Ryu tiredly

Ranma did just that and helped his former rival back on his feet, supporting him so that he wouldn't fall back down. Together they walked towards the nearest house and both of them jumped onto its roof. From there on, they quickly made their way to their destination, even though Ryu's hurt legs slowed them down a bit.

Once the two men entered the compound Ranma gulped a little, he still remembered how angry Akane could get when he was gone for a few hours without saying something. After eighteen years she would surely kill him, it also didn't help that he was carrying her beat up husband with him, knowing that she almost always gave him the fault when something happened to Ryu.

The other man heard the gulp and smiled, "Heh... seems that you still remember Akane's temper but don't worry, being pregnant mellowed her out a little."

Ranma nodded and then Ryu's words actually registered in his mind, "Did you just say that she is pregnant?"

"Yes, I said that. What is it to you?" asked Ryu suspiciously

"Congratulations! Is it going to be a boy or a girl?"

"Errr..." Ryu didn't know what to say at the moment, he was expecting a completely different reply, "Uhm... we didn't want to know."

"That will make it pretty hard to furnish the room of the baby." stated Ranma

To Ryu's luck they finally reached the front door, he opened it and stepped in along with Ranma, "I'm back, and we also have a visitor!"

"You took pretty long... ..." said Akane as she walked to the entrance of her home to welcome her husband back, the rest of her sentence was stuck in her throat when she saw who the guest was.

There was a long moment of awkward silence that filled the air. No one really knew what to say exactly, well all except Ranma that is, "Hello Akane, could you tell me where to drop your husband? He's kinda heavy."

"L-living room..." mumbled Akane, her mind still trying to comprehend the situation

"Okay, thanks!" he said and walked past the dumbstruck woman, leaving her behind in the hall

It took her a full minute to realize that this wasn't some kind of dream and that Ranma really walked just past her. Akane blinked, not once, not twice but a whole three times before she ran after the two men. She entered the living room to see Ranma and Ryu sitting together on the couch.

"Hello, Ranma." greeted Akane simply, "Care to enlighten us where you have been all those years?"

Ranma let out a groan, "I was stuck on another version of Earth for roughly twelve years and that without my memories due to the magic mushrooms. Oh yeah, I'll need to thank Ryoga for bringing them to Nerima again… I had a new childhood and grew up in one of the larger cities there. I don't really want to tell you any more, it wasn't very pleasant."

Akane's eyes were widened, "It's kind of hard to believe that you went to another dimension…"

"Remember the Nanban mirror? If travel through time is possible…" he let the rest open for them

"True enough…" replied the woman

"Anyway... about your injuries, you should go see a doctor about them. I think I set all of them correctly and could heal some of the bones but I'm not all powerful, there could be some places I overlooked, and the way you are resistant to pain you won't notice it until it's too late."

Ryu sweatdropped and worriedly stared at his body, it was good that they had Tofu's number on speed dial, "I'll do that."

It was Akane's turn to ask a question; opposed to Ryu she avoided looking the pig-tailed man in the eyes, "Ranma?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"You don't seem to be in the slightest bit angry that I am married... why is that?"

That question got Ryu's attention as well and he glanced at Ranma expectedly, "That would interest me too."

Ranma leaned back on the couch and looked to the ceiling as he replied, "It's simple… I don't really care about it anymore. I had a completely new life on the other world, my memories as Ranma Saotome, martial artist supreme, are only a small part of me now. I still consider you all as my friends and my family but it's not like it was back then. I'm really happy for you though."

The couple stared at their guest in surprise; in the time they were officially together they often thought about what to say to Ranma once he returned from wherever he was and now it seems that they completely misjudged what his reaction would be. They expected that there would be some kind of argument or in the worst case an all out brawl, not that Ranma congratulated them.

Ranma looked at his friends again and noticed their befuddled looks, "What? Did you two expect me to start some kind of scene?"

Both of them blushed and looked away, while Akane muttered, "Err... well..."

The pig-tailed man surprised them yet again, he started laughing, "Don't worry. I came back to this dimension with weird expectations too and I'm surprised that none of these occurred yet. Anyway, it was nice to meet you again and all but I really have to get back home, mom is going to get a nervous breakdown if I do not show up soon... she was really worried when I left to fight the youma."

He stood up and was about leave when Ryu stopped him with another question, "Uhm... Ranma... since you can use magic now, could you cure my Jusenkyo curse?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow, "You have a curse? How did that happen?"

"Well, since I sealed away the Yamasenken I needed to make up my own school, so I went to various training sites around the globe. You should have really told me that you got your curse from Jusenkyo, I would have avoided that place then."

"How come you're still using the Yamasenken then? I saw you throw those vacuum blades at the monster."

Ryu shrugged, "Your father allowed it to me but only in an emergency. I met him on one of my journeys. So what about the curse?"

"Yeah, sure. That's no problem. Just come tomorrow to my mother's dojo. I'll call you on the exact times. You can bring the others who still have curses with you as well."

"Y-you really can do that?" tears appeared in Ryu's eyes

"Yes, it's no problem."

"T... that is… thank you, Ranma." responded Ryu who was deeply moved

"Goodbye, you two. I'll see you tomorrow." said Ranma and left the house finally

Ranma decided to walk home and made his way down the street. It has been a long time since he could stroll so peacefully through a town, having been on the wanted list of several planets in the Three Galaxies... and Wormwood... not to forget the Coalition States and pretty much every other nation on Rifts Earth as well... had a serious effect of cutting into one's free time.

As he continued with his walk he noticed more and more that the people on the street were staring at him, most of these people belonged to the female gender. Ranma wondered what caused this reaction... mind you; he was not as naive as he was twelve years ago and he was by no means a virgin anymore but he never received such looks before. Well, there was the time where he had to flee from a hotel on the upper sectors of Center but he had been stark naked at that time.

This thought caused him to halt in his steps; slowly he looked down at himself and... Yup, most of his clothes were in shreds, he knew that he forgot something. That youma he fought ripped them apart with its claws; at least his pants were still mostly in one piece. Now he only asked himself why Ryu and Akane didn't say anything before he left their house.

------------------

Back at the Tendo Dojo...

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"Don't you think it was a little mean to let him go back into town with his clothes in this state?" asked Ryu

Akane smiled and replied, "Come on, it's only a little payback for worrying me for such a long time. He most likely took to the rooftops anyway, so no one is going to see him."

"If you think so... ... could you call Tofu now?"

"Of course, dear - I'll go get the phone." said the long haired woman and left the room

------------------

Back to Ranma…

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The pig-tailed man activated one of his rings and his clothes quickly started to repair themselves. Of course, this earned him even more stares from the people but he didn't mind them at all as he walked on, at least now he knew why he got them.

A few minutes later, his outfit has been mended and the looks he got became less. Ranma's thoughts slowly drifted back to the weird youma he killed, that creature had to be unnatural. Normal youma had a more human-like size and form, mostly because they just had enough energy to shape such a small body. The one he met today wasn't only unbelievably big but was also too powerful for one of its kind.

((It must have been created artificially, there's no other explanation. Just great, with my luck there are Genesplicers in this dimension. I hate these bastards… they're bad for business. But they are the only ones with the means to create such a thing.)) thought Ranma darkly, ((Unless I offended someone else and I didn't notice it…))

------------------

Half an hour later...

------------------

After going back to the Tendo/Hibiki Dojo to ask for directions, Ranma now finally was at home. His mother and sister already waited for him in the living room and both had relieved looks on their faces when they saw him enter the room.

Makoto was the first to talk, she almost jumped up from where she sat, "Did you beat the monster?"

"Blasted it to pieces."

"Are you okay? It didn't hurt you, did it?" asked Nodoka concerned

"I'm fine, mom. I fought against stronger opponents before." he then turned to Makoto, "Hey, sis? Can I ask you about something?"

"Huh? Of course!"

"I think we should go to your room for that."

"I'm going to prepare dinner as long as you two are talking." said their mother and left for the kitchen. Now that her son was back home and unhurt, she calmed down considerably.

As the two siblings went upstairs, Ranma already started, "Say, you weren't really surprised by the monster attack, why is that?"

She blinked and then sweated slightly, "Uhm… well, monsters aren't really all that rare in the Tokyo area. They just tend to appear in Juuban and not in Nerima."

"Really? And who is fighting them? I doubt that the martial artists here always run over to Juuban if a demon attack occurs, not if it's as frequent as you say it is."

"The Sailor Senshi." she replied proudly

"Sailor Senshi? Who are they?" asked the pigtailed boy, ((And who thought up such a stupid name?))

"There are nine senshi and their leader is Sailor Moon. The others are Sailor Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Pluto."

"And who are these guys? Are they martial artists as well? Or do they use high tech or maybe magic?"

She frowned slightly, "These _guys_are girls and they use magic. They are the sailor-suited warriors of love and justice!"

Ranma had a hard time not laughing at the last sentence. That was just plain silly. But he didn't want to offend his sister, who seemed like a huge fan of them, so he kept silent. Trying to get more serious he asked another question, "Could you tell me more about them?"

Makoto beamed at that, "Yeah, I can do that!"

They entered her room and Ranma almost regretted ever asking about those senshi. Who could have guessed that his sister would talk so much? She even had tapes of some of the battles these girls fought.

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The next day…

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Ranma walked through Nerima again, thinking about the videos he saw yesterday. He already figured out that the Sailor Senshi must have had several different adversaries, just going by the looks of the monsters they fought. What eluded him though, was the magic the girls used, it was different than any kind of magic school he ever heard about. The only thing that somehow resembled it was the elemental magic of warlocks and even that wasn't quite close.

He also thought about what uses this world would have for him on a multi-dimensional scale. Jusenkyo water and the instant curses would be a huge seller even though a Remove Curse spell could eradicate the magic. The magic mushrooms would also sell well and the giant animals of Ryugenzawa too. And there were of course the Musk and Phoenix people, who would make excellent slaves once their will was broken.

Just then he walked past the Nekohanten, which door stood wide open even though the Closed sign was still hanging there. His curiosity winning the better of him, Ranma went into the restaurant and found that the chairs were still on top of the tables and that no one was in the kitchen cooking for the early morning rush. He closed the door behind him to not attract unwanted attention and then checked out the room.

There was one thing that caught his interest though; there was a piece of paper lying next to an envelope on the ground. He picked it up and read the letter, it was written in Chinese but one of his rings quickly took care of this. It read,

_Dear Shampoo,_

_I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm going to write it straight down. Your great-grandmother died, the other elders said that it was of old age. She just didn't wake up one morning. I would have come to tell you this in person but I couldn't leave the village. The death of Cologne left a too huge hole in our village and some of the elders are already arguing about who is going to take her place. I think they completely forgot that you were her heir, I will do what I can to secure your place here but please come back to China. Another matter came up as well but I can't tell you anything about it in a letter, it could fall into the wrong hands._

_Love,_

_Mousse_

"Damn…" muttered Ranma, "Where the hell is Shampoo?"

Just then he heard the faintest noise coming from the first floor, it sounded like crying. Dropping the letter again he dashed upstairs and quickly followed the grief-stricken sounds to a room at the end of the floor, from what he could remember it belonged to Cologne. Going into the room, he saw Shampoo lying on the bed with her face pressed into a pillow.

It was heartbreaking for Ranma to see this usually proud and strong Amazon in a state like this. Walking up to the bed, he kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder. Her whole body stiffened at the sudden touch, she then swiftly leapt up from the mattress and landed on the floor in an aggressive fighting stance.

Ranma stood up as well looked at her and was rendered speechless. A few years ago, Shampoo had been cute but now she was stunningly beautiful. He also never saw so many emotions flashing through someone's eyes so fast. Anger, shock, disbelieve, hope, anger again, happiness and a myriad of others. All that in just a few moments.

"Hello, Shampoo. Long time no see." greeted Ranma with a smile

"Ranma!!!"

Forgetting everything around her, she jumped at him with outstretched arms, enclosing him in a loving hug. Out of reflex he put his own arms around her as well. It took several minutes for her to calm down again, but once she got her emotions under control she stopped hugging him and stepped away from Ranma.

She looked him straight in the eyes, "Where have you been for the last eighteen years?"

"In another dimension, without my memories. I only recently got them back." he replied simply

"And why did you come back? Because of Akane?"

Ranma shook his head, "It's a vacation and I wanted to see my family and friends again."

"A_vacation_? Y-you are not going to stay here?"

"No, I can't. I own an entire city and I'm an interdimensional trader as well, I can't just leave that behind." he blinked, he didn't actually want to tell that anyone, ((Now why did I say that?))

She looked at him for several seconds and then sat down on her bed, "I think we need to talk…"

"If you want to." said the pigtailed boy and sat down next to her

"What did you mean with you own a city?"

"It's a city called Cibola in South America. I destroyed its ruler and some of his minions in a fight."

"You killed people for a town?" she sounded shocked

"I wouldn't say exactly _people_ to them… One was a giant worm with tentacles that liked to suck out human minds, the other was a pansy fire dragon and the last one a temporal raider. The other two fled before the battle… cowards."

"You're… you're not joking, are you?"

"No, I told you the truth."

She was silent for a moment and then said, "You look so young though…"

"I was a kid when I disappeared, remember?" replied Ranma

"I must look like an old hag to you…"

To her surprise, he caressed her cheek with his right hand, "You are as beautiful as ever, even more so."

She blushed slightly, "Why didn't you tell me that eighteen years ago?"

"Why?"

"Look at me; I'm twice as old as you are."

"Age doesn't really matter to me."

"After all these years you would finally consider accepting our engagement?"

"I didn't say that." responded Nodoka's son, "I'm not the person that you knew all those years ago."

"Then tell me about you! I don't care what you might have done!" said Shampoo fiercely, "I love you, I always loved you!"

"I might have to kill you if you can't accept who I am." stated Ranma coldly, "I can't risk that you might tell someone else."

"I don't care! Tell me!"

"Very well… it started when I landed in front of my lord, Splynncryth…"

------------------

A few hours later…

------------------

"… and so I found Mousse's letter downstairs and went to see if I could comfort you."

"You did all of these things? Sold humans for money, killed people and tortured them…"

"Yeah."

"You also saved people from demons and monsters, fought against vampires…"

Yeah."

Shampoo closed her eyes for a moment to order her thoughts, and then opened them again. Letting out a sigh, she exclaimed, "I don't care!!"

"What?!" replied Ranma shocked, he didn't expect that answer at all. He didn't even plan to kill her if she had said no, only erase her memory.

"I said I don't care! You did all those terrible things and I still love you." said the purple-haired woman, "We Amazons did terrible things as well… do you think we were always so lenient with the Kiss of Death like I was? Or that we didn't torture our enemies to get information?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't marry you. I will live for several thousand years, maybe even more. I couldn't stand to see my wife die before my eyes."

"What?"

"I consider you as one of my best friends, you accepted me where others would have most likely shunned or even killed me." said the man genuinely, "So, for the time being…"

Before he could get out another word, she kissed him.

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To be continued…

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(1) Kyouhunohakatto roughly translates to Blade Cut Terror (at least that's what Google told me).

C&C is appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, Palladium Books' Rifts or Sailor Moon.

"Dialogue"

((Thoughts))

"_Telepathy"_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Hikawa shrine…

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"Why did you call us here today, Setsuna?" inquired Ami curiously

"Yeah… I had to get up really early…" muttered a tired Usagi, "Luna almost scratched my eyes out to get me out of bed."

"I wanted to talk to you about a dimensional anomaly that occurred the night before yesterday. I spent the whole day tracking it down and found out that someone ripped a hole into reality to come to our dimension." said the Senshi of Pluto, "I couldn't find out who or what was the cause but it was quite powerful."

"Is it dangerous?" asked Haruka

"I'm not sure, probably. The hole obscured the time gate and I couldn't pinpoint any location as long as it was open."

Minako was the next one to talk, "Does it have anything to do with the monster that attacked Nerima yesterday?"

"Maybe, I felt an enormous dark energy there but it appeared after the monster started attacking not at the same time."

"Then why didn't we go there and stop it?" Rei wanted to know, "You even told us not to interfere."

"It was taken care of by the martial artists in Nerima." said Setsuna simply, "Isn't that right, Makoto?"

Makoto's head snapped up and she looked at Setsuna with sleepy eyes, "Huh? Did you say something?"

"Are you okay, Mako-chan?" asked Usagi

"Yeah… I just didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why that?"

"My brother came back and we spent almost the entire night talking."

"You have a brother?!" they shouted simultaneously, all except one

"H-he's back?!" Setsuna's voice almost broke

"I have a brother, he disappeared eighteen years ago… _he's back_? You know him, Setsuna?"

"Of course I know him! I kept check on all your families before you were reborn. Even if not, it would have been hard not noticing him."

"Why?"

"Err… He killed a godling a few months before he disappeared. The death of the god sent out enough magical energy to even stir Metallia back then."

"A god?! Your brother is so powerful?!"

"No one ever told me anything about that!" said Makoto, she was surprised as well

"Where was he anyway?" asked Setsuna sheepishly, "I… I could never really pinpoint his location again after that fight."

"Uhm… he said that he returned from a different dimension…"

The keeper of the time gate frowned, "And you didn't bother to tell us about it?"

Her cheeks turned crimson, "It slipped my mind."

"Maybe he was the cause of the dimensional anomaly you felt, Setsuna?" noted Ami, "If eighteen years ago he was strong enough to kill a godling than maybe he got even more powerful."

"Hmm… I'll need to check up on him…Aahhh!!" she stopped in mid sentence and clutched her head in pain

The same also happened to Usagi, Rei, Hotaru and Michiru. It all lasted for only a few seconds but once it was over the other Senshi quickly helped their friends stabilize.

"What happened, Usagi?" asked Ami concerned as she supported the girl

"I d-don't know…" her body was shaking, "There was a terrible cold… darkness and… and suffering… so much suffering…"

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Nekohanten…

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Ranma and Shampoo woke up with a start, they sat up and looked at each other. She shivered, "What was that, Ranma?"

He almost growled, "The Cold and the Darkness…"

"What?"

The pigtailed man stood up from the bed, "Come, we should take a shower. I have things to do."

"Okay." replied Shampoo and got out of bed as well.

"I'll explain everything to you later. We don't have much time now." said Ranma urgently, "Something horrible tried to enter this dimension."

She nodded and led him to the bathroom.

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Half an hour later…

--------------

The Amazon and the pigtailed man were jumping from rooftop to rooftop at high speeds. After Ranma told her what exactly wanted to come into this world she was more than eager enough to go along with his plan. They quickly headed back to the Kino residence and rushed into the house.

"Makoto! Where are you ?!" shouted Ranma

Nodoka was just coming down the stairs when she saw the pair enter, "Makoto-chan is out with her friends."

"Where?"

"At the Hikawa shrine in Juuban, I think. She goes there pretty often for study sessions."

"I know where that is, Ranma." said Shampoo

"Good." then he turned back to his mother, "I'll have to go now again, it's important."

Nodoka nodded, "Very well, my son."

Shampoo and Ranma both disappeared again. After a few seconds Ranma's head peeked through the front door again, "Before I forget it, Ryu and Akane should be visiting us tonight… goodbye!"

--------------

Hikawa shrine again…

--------------

The senshi were waiting patiently for Setsuna to return from the time gate. She went there right after she recovered a bit from the previous ordeal to see where it came from and she didn't come back since then. They were slowly getting worried.

"Maybe something happened to her?" said Usagi while rubbing her head; she still had a headache from before

"I doubt it." replied Haruka, "Setsuna is at her most powerful at the gate. Everyone who dares attacking her there is in for a rude awakening."

"Haruka's right, she probably just has a hard time searching for that thing. We don't even know what exactly happened to us, anyway." said Michiru

The moon princess sighed, "You're probably right…"

Just then someone knocked at the door, "Makoto, are you in there? Here's Ranma."

"Ranma?!" exclaimed the brown-haired girl surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

Makoto looked to her friends and they nodded, "Uhm… okay, come in."

The door opened to reveal a pigtailed boy about the age of Haruka or Michiru and a purple-haired woman, who was about ten years older.

"Aunty Shampoo? What are you…?"

"I showed him the way."

"Oh…" said Makoto dumbly, she looked a little flustered, "Why are you here, Ranma?"

"I wanted to know where I can find these Sailor Senshi you talked about."

She gulped, "How should I know? I've never even met them personally."

"Maybe one of your friends knows?" he glanced at them

They all shook their heads though, some more vigorously than others.

Ranma sighed, "Look, there is no reason to lie to me. I tell you a secret as well, I'm a mage. Something people call a Ley Line Walker and I can see magical emanations and energies in my surroundings if I want to. All of you shine like bonfires to me, I didn't mention anything when I first met you but there is trouble brewing on this world, I might need your help to overcome it."

"I-I really d-don't know what you're…"

Just then Setsuna reappeared in the middle of the room. Shampoo almost attacked her but a hand of Ranma on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

"You can tell him." said the guardian of time simply

"Are you insane?!" shouted Haruka angrily

"He already figured it out, if you didn't notice it."

"It's still insane…" muttered the tomboyish girl

Setsuna then turned back to Ranma, "You were right, we are the Sailor Senshi. I'm Setsuna Meioh also known as Sailor Pluto and the Guardian of Time Gates."

Ranma nodded respectfully, "Ranma Saotome, Ley Line Walker, martial arts master and Atlantean High Lord. This is my friend Shampoo of the Chinese Amazons."

The other senshi stood up as well and introduced themselves by name and by planet. After introductions were finished, they all sat down at the large table in the middle of the room.

"So, why do you need the help of the senshi?" asked the green-haired woman

"I guess some of you felt a disturbance about an hour ago? Like something cold and dark reached out for your soul?"

"Yes, we felt it. Usagi, Rei, Hotaru, Michiru and I almost collapsed from pain."

He sighed, "What you felt is the reaching of the _Cold and Darkness_ into this world. He is an ancient alien intelligence that predates most dimensions."

"The _Cold and Darkness_?" inclined Rei with a frown, "Doesn't it have a real name?"

"He has several names throughout the Megaverse. One is the Soul Stealer and another is Nxla, the Harvester of Souls."

"Harvester of Souls?" asked Usagi fearfully

"Nxla eats souls and gets more powerful the more he devours. He gains a foothold in a world by finding idiots who worship death and turns them into Harvesters that can do the same as he does, rip the souls of people out and use them to increase their powers. About once every fifteen days they can open a rift to his home dimension and let his presence through for a few minutes. That's what we felt earlier." explained Ranma, "When this happens he sends out fragments of his essence into the world to steal souls for him. The soulless are then turned into xombie by him and serve him and his Harvesters."

Minako raised an eyebrow, "So… we only have to find these Harvesters and destroy them?"

"Yeah, but it's not as easy as you might think it is. From the reaction you experienced previously, I guess that Nxla has gained quite a bit of power on this world. Normally when he starts recruiting, it should just feel like mild uneasiness not pain. I would say that he must have almost enough Harvesters and xombie to allow him to enter the world completely."

Setsuna frowned, "How many Harvesters are _enough_?"

He shrugged, "I think 6601 is the number for Harvesters and 5000 for xombie."

"What?!"

"That's a whole army!" exclaimed Haruka, "How are we supposed to destroy all of them?!"

"Quite a problem, isn't it?" he shook his head, "No, we aren't numerous enough for that task. We need more help."

"And who are you suggesting?" wanted the senshi of time to know

"Some of my old friends in Nerima. Don't you know any powerful aliens or other warriors native to this dimension, Setsuna?"

"Well, in Okayama…"

And they started forging plans.

--------------

Several hours later…

--------------

Ranma, Shampoo and Makoto were standing in front of the Kino house and were talking to each other.

"You two go in already." said Ranma, "I still have to prepare something in the dojo."

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm going to draw a magic circle to remove yours and Ryu's curses."

"You can do that?!" Shampoo was shocked to say the least

"I could try it right now but a ritual is more likely to succeed." this said, he went straight to the dojo. "My teachers told me that Jusenkyo curses are quite iffy to get rid off. They tried it with me for several years before they found a method that worked."

Makoto looked at Shampoo curiously, "Was he always like this?"

The Amazon shrugged, "More or less I think… it just got worse."

"Let's go inside now." said Ranma's sister with a sigh

--------------

The dojo…

--------------

Ranma kneed on the floor of the training hall and drew several arcane runes and symbols around the circle. While he wasn't as good at this as some of his former masters, his skill was quite acceptable. Grimacing slightly, he made contact with his rune weapon in sub space.

"_Ravana, can you hear me?"_

"_What is it, Saotome?" _he sounded pissed

"_Why are you still angry? I beat you fair and square." _insisted the martial artist

"_You are the only one in the entire Megaverse that would say using anti-matter missiles in a fight is fair…"(1)_

_Well, I do practice Anything Goes." _he replied with a shrug

"_What do you want?"_

"_What do you think we should do about Nxla?"_

The captured Ashura growled, "_Destroy him."_

"_You know that's almost impossible to achieve. The bastard is more powerful than most of the pantheon leaders combined."_

"_Banish him then, if you can't destroy him." _said Ravana, _"If the Old Ones could be sealed away, he can be as well."_

"_Hmm… maybe… but that would need more P.P.E. than the Senshi and I have combined."_

"_True, Nxla isn't a sucker like Apsu or Cronus." _the next sentence came with clear disgust, _"You could always ask one of the magic gods to help you, maybe even Thoth."_

"_I somehow doubt that they would help me and even if they came, the magic on this Earth is so weak that they would be all but useless without several million worshipers."_

((The magic on this planet is weak…?)) he frowned slightly and then slapped his forehead in realization, _"I'm an idiot!!"_

"_I know."_

"_Not the planet is weak in magic, the whole solar system is! All the planets are interlinked with each other, that's why the senshi can transform and draw upon the power of their respective planets!!" _he stood up and paced through the dojo, gesticulating wildly with his hands,_ "Why didn't I think of it sooner?! There are ley lines in space just like in the Three Galaxies but the fall of the Silver Millennium, or whatever Setsuna called it, almost killed the ley lines of most planets except Earth… Since they are connected with each other though, the energies of Earth bleed out to the others to sustain them!"_

"_Nice theory. What next?"_

He scratched his chin in thought,_ "An infusion maybe… but how? I would need a planet even more active than Rifts Earth… … That's it!"_

--------------

Half an hour later…

--------------

Shampoo, Ryu, Akane and the two Kinos walked into the dojo and sweatdropped massively. Almost all walls were covered with various charts, showing diagrams, maps and thousands of other things. Tables were strategically placed throughout the hall and a large shelve took up an entire wall and was filled with hundreds of books and scrolls.

On the tables several high-tech computers and other machines were set up. Ranma was currently sitting in front of one and typed away on the keyboard.

"How did he…?" started Makoto but was quickly interrupted

"Oh, hello! The ritual, right?" said Ranma as he looked up from the screen, "Please go into the circle there and be careful not to destroy any of the symbols or lines, I don't want to transform you accidentally into frogs or rats or living balls of rotten flesh or something."

"Where did you get all that stuff from?! You arrived here with nothing but your clothes!" asked Makoto astonished

"Advanced sub-space techno-wizardry. I used Mousse's Hidden Weapon technique as a template and with a little help of a few techno-wizards, we built a prototype. It allows me to carry tons of equipment with me at all times." replied Ranma with a grin, "Now go into the circle you two, you can look at my new lab once your curses are gone."

Ryu and Shampoo nodded and carefully stepped into the magic circle. Ranma stood up and walked over to the circle as well, checking it one last time for errors and finding none, he started.

"Keep your ki down during the ritual; it could interfere with the magic. So remain calm no matter what happens."

"Okay." said Ryu

"I trust you completely." replied Shampoo

"Good."

He stretched his arms forward, pointing the palms of his hands at the two cursed individuals. Ranma began to chant, whispering at first but getting louder with every minute. No one of them could comprehend the language he used, because as soon as the words entered their minds they already disappeared again as if they never existed.

After about five minutes, the circle started glowing white as if it was made of pure energy. Another three minutes later and a bluish mist rose from the ground and enveloped Shampoo and Ryu. For them it almost felt like a caring hug or a lover's embrace. Ranma twisted his hands slightly and the mist shifted, condensing more and robbing the view at his friends. He could still feel them with his magic though, clearer than ever before.

He could see their aura, see their souls and also see the curse. It was intertwined with their beings like a dark cancer that was pulsing with evil. Whoever called that valley _Springs of Sorrow_ hit the nail on the head. It was just as twisted as the dark arts of necromancy. Only that this magic was natural and not formed by men. Ranma shuddered involuntarily, natural necromancy was something unheard of in the Megaverse, it shouldn't even exist. The biomancers would probably throw a fit.

Making a grabbing motion with his hands, the magical haze shifted yet again and twisted around the curses. With a fierce gesture, he ripped them out of their victims and the mist crushed them once he closed his hands into fists. Cutting off the magic flow to the circle, his two patients collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily.

Ranma quickly walked to Shampoo, while Akane went over to her husband. Helping them to their feet, they brought them into the main house and onto the couch in the living room; they were quickly followed by Nodoka and Makoto.

They were just in time to see Ryu grab Ranma by the wrist, "T-that black thing I saw… was that the curse?"

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, looks much more menacing in its true form, doesn't it?"

"Thank you for getting that out of me."

"Don't worry about it, my friend." said the pigtailed boy, his lips parted for smirk, "I know how you can repay me."

"Huh?!" was the reaction of Ryu and Akane

"Well… it's like this…"

------------------

To be continued…

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(1) Ranma never would have had a chance in a straight fight with Ravana who already captured Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva once. He pissed him off so much though that the Rakshasa King followed him through a rift, right into the missiles depot on board of an abandoned Kittani Dragon Dreadnaught that crash-landed on a planet in the Three Galaxies. Ranma set up several explosives beforehand and teleported out of the ship before it could explode.

Once everything calmed down, he picked up the unconscious demon lord and dragged him back to Atlantis, where the ritual for the making of a rune weapon was conducted.


End file.
